Criminal tethers save money, but what about lives?

People wearing tethers show up as red squares on a map. Wayne County sheriffs deputies track them from the William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck.(Photo: Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

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Wayne County has saved millions of dollars on jail costs by releasing prisoners on tethers.

Some people released on tethers are charged with murder, rape, armed robbery and arson.

On any given day, more than 500 people charged with crimes including murder, rape and armed robbery roam free in Wayne County wearing electronic tethers on their ankles.

The program saves Wayne County more than $20 million annually in jail costs, but critics say it's bad policy. They say the devices provide the public with a false sense of security, even though advocates say the risks can be managed through careful screening.

Demetrius Edwards was wearing a tether after pleading guilty to armed robbery in September 2010. Hours after his plea, he murdered Cedell Leverett outside Eastland Mall in a botched robbery attempt.

"For him to be on tether and still be on the street is not right," said Leverett's widow, Tammy Leverett of Southfield.

Oakland and Macomb counties use the devices far less often and rarely on people accused of violent crimes. Wayne's reliance on tethers is driven in part by its higher crime rate, as well as limited jail space and chronic budget problems.

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The tether in Wayne County uses GPS and radio signals.(Photo: Regina H. Boone, DFP)

Wayne isn't alone in the use of tethers. Communities across the country, especially urban ones, use tethers as a way to reduce incarceration. Most report success, but some have had to modify or suspend their programs after violent episodes.

"Tether is an effective means for reducing the jail population for low-level offenders," said Brian Earle, president of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriffs Association. "I don't think it was ever intended to be used to control violent offenders."

Wayne began using tethers in a pilot program in 1995, targeting misdemeanor suspects such as drunken drivers. Later the program was expanded to nonviolent felons and eventually to people accused of violent crimes, including murder.

Tethers use cell phone signals, GPS and, in some cases, landline phones to track defendants' whereabouts for about $23 a day, far less than the $154 it costs to lock someone in the Wayne County Jail. With chronic budget deficits and a failed jail project in downtown Detroit that was supposed to provide almost 2,200 beds, tethers have become an important tool for the county.

Backers insist tethers are a win-win because in addition to the county saving money, the people wearing them can hold down jobs or attend school while awaiting trial. But Earle said there are unintended consequences that don't necessarily show up in statistics.

"Why be a witness against a guy who's going to be released on tether?" Earle said. "Law enforcement is hard enough. It's going to be hard to make cases because witnesses are going to be even more afraid."

The program has grown in recent years as the county's finances have deteriorated. In 2014, 3,568 people were fitted with electronic tethers, a 14% increase from 2011.

Trouble follows

Other large metro communities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo use them frequently as well. They aren't immune to controversy, however.

A 2013 audit by the Los Angeles County Probation Department found that one in four tethers strapped to serious criminals in the county was faulty. The report cited dying batteries, false alarms and malfunctions that resulted in a failure to report locations of inmates for extended periods.

Orange County, Fla., suspended its tether program in 2013 after a man wearing a tether while awaiting trial for a home invasion shot and killed a witness in the case and wounded two other people. A review showed the man cut off his device. The county agreed to pay $100,000 to each of the families of the three shooting victims.

"When electronic monitoring was presented to us, it sounded like a great idea," said Chief Judge Fred Lauten of Florida's 9th Judicial Circuit. "It sounded high-tech and it was like, 'wow, we can sort of track people.' It really sound good."

But he said the murder shattered the notion that tethers could prevent crime.

"Somehow, in the public's perception, electronic monitoring became more than it ever really was," he said.

The program remains suspended while the county studies options, Lauten said.

A New Orleans program came under fire last year when two 16-year-olds wearing tethers were charged with murdering a Domino's Pizza delivery driver in an attempted carjacking. A New Orleans inspector general's report found significant weaknesses in the program including a failure to detail violations, unclear procedures to deal with violations and alerts that were ignored.

At one point this year, the list of tether wearers in Wayne County included:

■ Five people facing murder charges.

■ 13 people charged with assault with intent to murder.

■ 13 people charged with rape.

■ Seven people charged with armed robbery.

Dozens more faced weapon and drug charges along with probation violations.

Sheriff deputies say newer tethers are harder to cut, and better screening has helped reduce the absconder rate. In 2011, 142 people — about 4.5% of those wearing tethers — cut the devices off their ankles and fled. In 2014, the last full year for which figures are available, 72 wearers — about 2% — cut them off and fled. Of those 72 absconders last year, 63 were tracked down by sheriff's deputies and returned to custody.

But defendants don't have to cut off their tethers to violate the terms of their release.

In 2014, 434 people were found to have violated conditions by missing a curfew, venturing into an exclusion zone such as a victim's neighborhood, tampering with the device or using drugs or alcohol.

In the same year, 39 people wearing tethers also were arrested again, while another 33 were issued violations when new warrants for them were issued.

Experts acknowledge that the technology doesn't prevent anyone from committing a crime. It mostly reminds the defendants that their movements are being watched and recorded, and it gives police a way to check up on them.

"The tether was never designed for violent, repeat offenders," said Matt Maddock, owner of A-1 Bail Bonds, a company that helps defendants post the money they need to be released from jail. "It's a tool to monitor low-risk, nonviolent offenders."

Maddock said four out of 10 Wayne County clients who skipped out on their bond at one point earlier this year had cut their tethers and fled.

"We had a $100,000 forfeiture," he said. "He was a tether cut. The public has this false sense of security."

Shooter wore a tether

Tammy Leverett's worst nightmare unfolded in the parking lot of Eastland Mall on a warm September evening in 2010. Her husband, Cedell, was shot to death in his car during an attempted robbery.

Her shock and grief were compounded when she later learned that when he pulled the trigger, her husband's killer, Edwards, was awaiting sentencing on armed robbery charges.

Edwards had been wearing a tether for several months as his case progressed. After his guilty plea, Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow allowed Edwards to remain free until sentencing, a decision that Morrow noted drew opposition from no one, including prosecutors. But that's little comfort to Leverett.

"The reality is, this guy should have never been on the street in the first place," Leverett told the Free Press. "He had already proven that he was a menace to society."

A security camera outside Eastland Mall recorded the images of Edwards approaching Leverett's car, firing three times and leaving Leverett there to die. The case wasn't much of a mystery.

"He couldn't deny being at Eastland Mall at the time of the murder because his tether put him there," said Harper Woods Detective Lt. Ted Stager.

Edwards, now 23, is serving life in prison for felony murder in the case.

Morrow noted that Edwards had posted a $50,000 bond to qualify for release and the tether was added as an extra measure of security.

He defended the use of tethers, saying judges use data, such as whether a person charged with a crime has a stable home, gainful employment and other factors, to gauge who should be eligible for release on one. Edwards matched that criteria when he was issued a tether.

"There is some science behind it, but nobody can predict human behavior," Morrow said. "The system isn't foolproof."

Martin Horn, a professor of corrections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, calls tethers a "glorified way of managing curfews."

"It doesn't prevent crime," said Horn, a former commissioner of probation and corrections in New York. "You can't go into this thinking they're aren't going to be problems."

Horn said tethers help track offenders, but New York opted against them, in part because of population density. A tether could tell officers that the person being sought was in the Empire State Building, but so are thousands of other people at any given time. Horn said officials also questioned the cost-effectiveness of tethers because of the manpower involved in tracking down offenders.

2 ways to get a tether

People in the Wayne County Jail can be released on a tether in one of two ways: a judge's order, typically as a condition of bond, or administratively by the chief of jails, Jeriel Heard.

Heard was given the authority to release prisoners after they sued the county for inhumane conditions related to overcrowding. As part of the lawsuit settlement, Heard was given the authority to free prisoners when the jail gets overcrowded.

He said he goes through a lengthy classification process that reviews issues such as mental health, substance abuse and home situation before releasing someone but, in the end, it comes down to a judgment call. He said he doesn't release violent offenders.

About two-thirds of the people released on a tether get there by a judge's order.

"These people were going to be out on bond, anyway," said Lt. Dennis Ramel, who supervises the electronic monitoring unit

In May 2012, Shantee Brown was arrested in the 2004 kidnapping and rape of a Detroit woman. DNA evidence helped identify him as a suspect.

Bond was set at $250,000 and he was held in the Wayne County Jail. But two months later, Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway agreed to reduce the bond to $25,000 and release Brown with a tether. Just hours before he was due in court for a September hearing in his case, Brown cut off his tether and fled.

A manhunt followed, and two weeks later he was captured in Birmingham, Ala. Hathaway did not respond to requests for comment on the case.

A Wayne County jury later convicted him of rape and kidnapping and he's now serving 17 to 35 years in prison.

Some do well

Not all who wear tethers ignore the conditions of release, even when charged with a serious crime.

Psauntia George was released on a tether after being charged in January 2014 with killing her former lover, Martell Chambliss, at a brake shop on Mack Avenue.

The case against her grew stronger after a preliminary examination at which a friend who managed the shop, Delano Jones, testified that George ran up to him and told him to "get your boy off the shop floor."

Jones found Chambliss unresponsive.

"He had his eyes wide open, foaming at the mouth," Jones testified

Chambliss died a short time later. George was charged three days after the shooting and remained in jail until Dec. 19, 2014.

Morrow said a background investigation showed George had a stable residence, ties to the community and other factors that made her a good candidate for the tether program. He agreed to release her pending trial if she posted $10,000 and wore a tether.

George left jail to go home for Christmas and continued to wear the tether until a jury convicted her of second-degree murder four months later.

In May, Morrow sentenced her to 15 years in prison.

Leverett said the system might have worked in George's case, but it failed her.

"Rewind time and go back to 2010 where I stood on the side of yellow tape with a vehicle riddled with bullets and my husband slouched over," she said. "Tell me, honestly, do you really think that you should not take a look and reconsider: Does the system actually work?"